Nokia is working on a smartphone that will feature an in-display fingerprint sensor, according to new reports. The source of the speculation in this case is an unnamed source from the supply chain in China, with Nokia Power User reporting that this same source has provided accurate intelligence on Nokia devices in the past.

If the leak is true, Nokia is in the running to become one of the first smartphone makers to launch a device with in-display fingerprint sensor technology. It could even be the first to launch such a device on the global market; so far, the only commercial smartphone to feature an in-display fingerprint sensor, a device from Vivo, has only launched in China. Meanwhile, the biggest names in the mobile business aren’t even in the running. Apple appears to have given up on fingerprint authentication entirely, with its new devices for this year expected to rely on its Face ID facial recognition system for user authentication; and Samsung is thought to be struggling in its own experiments with the technology.

As with Vivo, Nokia’s aim in pursuing in-display fingerprint scanning technology appears to be to expand screen space without having to put a fingerprint scanner on the rear of the device. NPU’s source says the company is also considering a notch design along the lines of the iPhone X, so that rather than making the top bezel thick enough to feature a front-facing camera and other sensors, a smaller area is carved out for such features so that the screen can otherwise extend almost to the top of the device’s face.

Sources: Nokia Power User, TechRadar, Android Community